Press Release

Joe Meek Produces from Beyond The Grave?

Once upon a time Joe Meek fan club member, Tony Grinham (aka Tony Kaye) was on the verge of grabbing his 15 minutes of fame with Joe Meek back in the 60's. He was signed up to Joe not only as an artist but also as a songwriter. First it looked like his songs would hit centre stage with a song called Leggy Peggy pencilled in for Heinz to record. Apparently a recording session was done for it but Joe and Heinz fell out and the song was either scrubbed or went into the now infamous Tea Chest tapes.

Next came Tony's opportunity to sing on one of his own songs, The Long Drop. A demo was made with Tony singing. Then later a new back tracking was recorded and produced by Joe and the next step was for Tony to record the track properly for release. Unfortunately Joe then killed himself and Tony never got to sing on it, but he did manage to acquire the backing track which has been collecting dust until now.

Like many others who have heard a significant amount of Russell C. Brennan's productions and releases, Tony considers Russell to be the new Joe Meek. Russell himself is a huge Joe Meek fan. He has produced the original Honeycombs line-up with Denis D'ell & Honey Langtree in. He also produced two tracks for ex-Joe Meek star Glenda Collins, the latest one being considered extra special - a Ray Davies song Nobody's Fool (theme from Budgie). This was released recently on the Cult Themes Forever CD album - which has some very Joe Meek sounding tracks on it as well as some that have Russell's own unique production style.

Russell met Tony some years ago when he was more involved with both of the Joe Meek fan clubs, but it was only recently that Tony played him Joe's backing track for The Long Drop. It seemed to be an opportunity to make everyone's dreams come true, i.e. for Tony to finally get his song released and for Russell to co-produce a track with his idol Joe. It just needed one more piece of the jigsaw. Since Russell had become close to Glenda Collins and she likes working with him, he asked her about doing the track. The original lyrics were a bit morbid (about a man going to the gallows) so Russell wrote some new lyrics capturing the essence of the story of Tony's song but with a different spin on it, coming from the female point of view (writing for female singers is one of his specialities). So Tony's song The Long Drop has finally, after all these years of being in the vault, been recorded by Glenda Collins, co-produced by Joe Meek and Russell C. Brennan, and will be released soon. The circle is complete.

The song comes out as a download single on iTunes and all good download stores on Feb 3rd, a significant date for all Joe Meek fans.

Since Glenda is a big fan of Russell's songwriting as well as his productions she asked if she could do a cover of her favourite Russell song Numbers as a B-side of Tony's track on Future Legend Records. So fans will get two Glenda Collins tracks for the price of one!

It's not viable to put this release out on vinyl unfortunately but for FEb only there is a ltd edition specially made up 6 track CD-EP of the track features different versions of the track including Joes Instrumental & Tonys original demo & another new song sung by Glenda written by Russell. Only 54 copies £5 inc p&p.

A fascinating radio interview with some of the historical background of the time can be listened to here, featuring Jim Blake and Tony Kaye.

As you know, Future Legend Records is world famous & synonymous with doing great new versions of Cult TV & film themes. They started the trend back in the 90s and released six popular 'decade' specific albums (‘60s, ‘70s & ‘80s) attracting many high profile fans along the way, including David Bowie (who loved the cover of his track on the ‘80s album), Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and composer John Barry - who even said some of the Bond theme covers were better than his.

It was thought no more cult themes albums would be released but we have decided to put out one final album to meet customer demand. The track listing of this new album includes many unusual gems, some of which are very hard to get hold of even by the original artists.

The album is an eclectic but imaginative reinterpretation of many themes, including a Flamenco style version of Pulp Fiction’s Misirlou and Joe Meek style productions of two Gerry Anderson themes - Fireball XL5 and Aqua Marina (from Stingray). The tracks range from catchy songs to experimental soundscapes and an interesting musical adventure awaits the listener. Click underlined link to find out more on the Cult Themes Forever page!

Track listing:

1. Beat Girl (Instrumental) by Shame about the Girl
2. Need Your Love (from Up the Junction) by Laurie Biagini
3. Fireball XL5 by Doll Squad
4. Misirlou (Pulp Fiction theme) by Peter Lewington
5. Aqua Marina (Stingray end credit theme) by Dave Mayberry
6. Theme from Bullitt by Terry Wicks
7. A View to a Kill (Bond theme) by Psykick Holiday
8. Theme from Budgie by Glenda Collins
9. Theme from Edgar Wallace Mysteries by Peter Lewington
10. Burning Bridges (Kelly's Heroes theme) by Terry Wicks
11. Chi Mai (Lloyd George theme) by The Alien Orchestra UK
12. The World is Not Enough (Bond theme) by Psykick Holiday
13. The Likely Lads by The Snakeskin Show Review
14. The X files by Ron Howe
15. Beat Girl (Vocal) by Maiko

FLR is known to have released many limited edition collectible releases (some now deleted and changing hands for big money). Although streaming & download is now the norm many hardcore themes fans have said they much prefer to have a hard copy CD of this release, so we have made a limited edition of just 500 copies of shrink-wrapped CDs. They won't hang around long so if you want one get your order in now! The album will also be on download if that is your preference, and when the CD hard copies have sold out that will be the only way to get it. We don't plan to do streaming of it at this stage (but may do so in the future).

Order now to make sure of your copy. The price is just £7.99 with free P&P (in the UK) or £9.99 with free P&P (Outside the UK).

Please select the correct payment option in the Paypal button below for UK or Outside UK. For any queries feel free to drop us an email at futurelegend2000@yahoo.co.uk

The original Best of Eleanor Rigby Vol 1 album came out at the height of Britpop in 1994 and influenced many a Britpop legend. As many people know, nearly every Eleanor Rigby release is collectible, from 7” vinyl singles fetching up to £15.00 each, to her vinyl debut album Censorship that has sold from £50 to £100 on the internet.

The CD album Best of Eleanor Rigby Vol 1 has often been auctioned on eBay, in some cases reaching up to £25.00 a copy. After several repressings, the album sold out for the last time several years ago. A steady demand has built up since then.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this influential album FLR released a limited edition of just 500 copies.

Track listing:

1. I Want to Sleep With You
2. Take Another Shot of My Heart
3. 1995
4. Mad Xmas
5. Kiss Me Quickly it’s Christmas
6. Over and Over
7. Last Night in Soho
8. See My Friend
9. Love On the Phone
10. You Only Live Twice
11. Think for Yourself
12. Up the Junction